The plague of too much

I’ve always loved owning stuff. Stamping my name into my books, owning lots of toys and clothes, adding to my collections – I loved it all. However, all that stuff had to go somewhere.

I would spend hours sorting and repacking my stuff, Tetris-style, forcing it to better fit in my closet. A messy living space was overwhelming, so I had to constantly pack and repack.

A couple of years ago, it dawned on me that part of the problem was accumulation. Watching that video The Story of Stuff really solidified this desire to slow up on the consumption.

Some changes:

1. I’ve slowed up on shopping.

2. I feel more free to give away what we have not used. Things are not people. If I was given a gift and I don’t want it, giving it away does not mean I don’t love that person.

3. If I own less, I spend less of my time organizing and cleaning and rearranging and dusting, and more time doing what I love.

4. I think more about how to reuse or repurpose things I already own. It’s caused more creativity and has been satisfying and exciting!

5. I LOVE living near the library. It’s absolutely the best. If you haven’t heard, everything is completely FREE there!

I don’t want to sound at all like I’ve arriven, and I don’t want to judge the decisions of others. Mainly, I am just happy that J and I have cut down, and cleared out space and time for what is important to us. It’s a process, so God-willing, we’ll continue to find joy in it.